Chapter 120 The Shang King

Wei Yuan used the language of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.

He inferred the other party's identity from their reaction to the prayers of the surviving Yin Shang people and their struggle against the surging tide of beasts. In addition, the bronze steps in the hollow of the mountain, which were almost like an altar, all corroborated Wei Yuan's speculation.

The spirit here was the ancient Shang King, the Emperor God worshiped by the people of Yin Shang for generations.

That pair of light golden pupils seemed to shrink slightly.

Then, unexpectedly, what followed was not a reply, but an extremely clear hostility.

A strong wind swept in, and the darkness in the mountain's belly spread with it. In the darkness, a sharp claw slammed down towards Wei Yuan's head, fierce and carrying thunder and flames. But Wei Yuan could feel that there was only hostility here, not murderous intent.

So he remained calm, took a step back, and raised his hand, his five fingers turning over.

Clenching.

The spiritual veins of the mountain overflowed, transforming into arms as substantial as reality, blocking this attack.

When the sharp claw finally stopped, it was still five steps away from Wei Yuan. The strong wind flowed, causing the young Daoist's black hair to rise, his expression calm and unwavering. His pupils met the eyes hidden in the darkness. Then, Wei Yuan slowly exhaled and clenched his five fingers.

He murmured silently in his heart.

Command,

Rise!

A moment of silence.

The mountain's spiritual veins suddenly erupted with powerful force.

The young Daoist standing in the mountain's belly seemed like an immortal god.

Fighting against the god of this mountain from within its spiritual veins was asking for trouble unless one had absolute superiority in strength. Especially since Wei Yuan could vaguely feel when that consciousness attacked that it was extremely weak. If he hadn't appeared this time, causing the spiritual energy in the veins to leak, this consciousness might have died in its sleep in another ten years.

………………

The dust settled.

Drawing on the power of the spiritual veins made Wei Yuan's assembled body much weaker.

But fortunately, the attacking consciousness was suppressed and unable to move.

The hair on the back of the nearby Bo beast stood on end, its vertical pupils widened.

It looked at Wei Yuan, then at the commotion just now.

It couldn't help but look at Wei Yuan again.

It fell silent.

How did I stab him to death back then?

Was I that fierce back then?

Or is he acting?

The Bo dragon lowered its head and neighed like a horse, honestly following behind him, trying to rub him with its dragon horns. Wei Yuan blocked it with one hand and slapped it away. He exhaled a breath of stale air, clenched his five fingers, and slowly stepped forward. The darkness receded, and he saw the true face of the enemy who had attacked him.

Then he frowned slightly. This was hardly a person anymore, let alone a god. Overall, it looked disheveled, like a stitched-together monster. Its hair was disheveled, and a bloodshot eye was opened between its eyebrows. The first half of its right arm was human, but it transformed into a tiger's claw at the hand.

Bone spurs grew out of the spine on its back, its feet were like those of a dragon beast, its clothes were tattered, and the exposed areas were covered in scales, exuding an oily sheen. The tailbone grew a snake-like tail.

It had fainted, overwhelmed by the power of the mountain god.

Even the Bo couldn't help but retreat, startled by this miserable and terrifying appearance.

It couldn't help but say, "What is this monster?"

…………………………

At the border city of Zhaoge, when Fei Yu and the warriors who could participate in the sacrifice arrived with their weapons or riding mechanical beasts, they were met by surprised and incredulous city guards. The leading elder told them what had just happened, and the warriors were amazed.

The young man who had been disappointed earlier on the mountain because the young Daoist was not the Emperor God muttered in disbelief, "He's so powerful."

"Is he even more powerful than the Emperor God?"

Fei Yu turned to look at him.

He panicked and shrank his neck, but still spoke his feelings, his tone confused and lost, "We've sacrificed to the Emperor God for so long, but He hasn't responded to us. We still have to fight those monsters, nothing like this..."

Fei Yu was silent, then said slowly, "Next time, the clan rules will be enforced."

He turned his head, looked at the border city, and was silent for a moment, then said:

"Repair this place first to prevent the beast hordes from coming again."

"Yes!"

……………………

Wei Yuan ordered the spiritual veins in the mountain to trap the hideous and defiled creature.

He had the Bo beast watch it, and he turned around to look at the murals on the stone wall. He reached out and swept away a patch of ash covering the bottom of the first mural, revealing several faded characters. He slowly read them out: "King, Zi Qu, conquers the Zhi Fang Kingdom."

Shang Prince Zi Qu...

Wei Yuan recalled that he had a high degree of knowledge about ancient history for some reason.

So he quickly found the Shang King represented by this name from the fragments of his memory.

Wu Yi.

He muttered silently to himself: "Emperor Wu Yi rebuilt north of the He River and moved the capital to Zhaoge."

It was Wu Yi who moved the Shang capital from Yin to Zhaoge. He also bestowed the land of Mount Qi to the leader of the Zhou tribe. He was a king with a reputation for being unprincipled in history, because he shot at the heavens and killed gods and died from lightning strikes. He also had a reputation for being tyrannical because he personally conquered the four directions, and wherever he went, he often showed no mercy with his sword.

So, the first mural records the scene of King Wu Yi of Shang conquering the Zhi Fang Kingdom?

Wei Yuan was thoughtful. He looked further inside. He didn't know why, but the hollow in the mountain was large and shrouded in very deep darkness. Even he couldn't see through this darkness for a while, so he could only reach out and touch the rock wall beside him.

Spiritual energy transformed into small balls of light, floating in the air and illuminating a small area.

Wei Yuan looked at the murals one by one, seeing Wu Yi conquering the east and west, seeing the ancestors of the Western Zhou kneeling before Wu Yi, being bestowed with jade and precious horses by Wu Yi. He saw Wu Yi finally shoot at the heavens and kill gods, and finally die from lightning while conquering for the Yin Shang.

Finally, Wu Yi was buried in the ancestral veins.

What followed was a break in the records.

Wei Yuan reached out and touched the carvings on the rock wall, which were a short passage of text.

'I woke up.'

'But Zhaoge City is no longer in the human world.'

'My descendants, wearing armor and holding swords, told me this with their subordinates.'

'They are going to cover the retreat, and the embers of Shang are here, asking me to protect these people.'

'This is the duty of a king, and I will not refuse.'

'As for persuading them to stay, humph, as a later generation emperor, being forced into this state by the feudal lords, he also has a duty. To cover the retreat and die in battle is what he should do.'

On the rough murals, two people stood back to back, stepping forward in opposite directions, one facing thousands of troops and horses, and the other facing endless darkness.

It was Emperor Xin who covered the retreat to buy time, and then Wu Yi's spirituality appeared as a god, responsible for protecting the people of Yin Shang. Wei Yuan was thoughtful and stepped forward, looking at the next stone tablet, which also contained things recorded by Wu Yi. Wei Yuan identified the weathered writing.

'Finally found water and food, but something seems wrong here.'

'The sky is densely packed with powerful souls. If they enter Zhaoge City, not many people will survive.'

'I stopped them, recognizing that these seem to be the powerful ones recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.'

'Hmph, as long as I, the King, am here, how can I let them get close to Zhaoge?'

In the mural, the people in Zhaoge City were tiny, while Wu Yi was as powerful as a god or demon, fighting against the remnants of the spirits of the strange beasts from the Classic of Mountains and Seas that filled the sky. One hand held a bronze shield, and the other held a powerful sword, his expression haughty and arrogant.

Then there was the third mural, which was the text above.

'The clansmen want to eliminate blood sacrifices.'

There seemed to be a long hesitation. Finally, that stroke came down very long, leaving a fingerprint-sized mark. Finally, Wu Yi's tone was light and natural as he recorded, 'I gave a dream to the Grand Tutor of this generation, telling them that if they want to eliminate it, then eliminate it. I, the King, am very powerful and don't need their human blood sacrifices.'

'Heh, take care of yourselves.'

The fourth mural.

'Too many enemies. I'm injured.'

'Only now did I realize that without blood sacrifices, it's too difficult for the wounds to heal. The severed arm cannot grow back. Fortunately, these people are still using these fierce beasts for sacrifices.'

In the mural, Wu Yi's arm was severed. He cut off the arm of a Qiongqi descendant and combined it with his own soul body, and then continued to block the strange beasts recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

Wei Yuan looked at the murals one by one.

Perhaps because it was too boring or lonely, Wu Yi carved his experiences on them.

But from this point on, Wu Yi in each mural was erased, as if his figure was wiped away later. One could only see that he was constantly fighting, until finally when Wei Yuan's finger touched a stone wall, he saw the writing on it become manic and unwilling—

'Today is the time for the grand sacrifice. I, the King, want to go out and see.'

'I, the King, saw a child holding white flowers. That is a gift to be offered to the gods.'

'I showed myself.'

'She didn't move. I, the King, originally thought that she was surprised to see me, but she suddenly cried out and threw the flowers at my face. If I heard correctly, she shouted—'

Wei Yuan looked up and saw the stone wall covered with the same passage, large and small, as if it were madness.

'Monster?!'

'I, the King, am a monster?!'

'How could I, the King, be a monster!'

'I, the King, am Wu Yi, the King of the world!'

Then there were large sections of blank space, and finally the handwriting became twisted.

'I, the King, am a monster.'

The picture, with extremely distorted strokes, depicted a person standing on the riverbank looking into the river. On the riverbank were people, but in the river was a monster whose human form was almost unrecognizable, hideous and twisted, with an indescribable sense of majesty and madness.

From this stone carving onward, the text left by Wu Yi began to change.

He was still fighting and killing, but in the records he left, his thoughts were obviously becoming chaotic, and there was a clear trend of changing from human to beast. This was a change caused by his own soul being disturbed and influenced by the souls of the strange beasts that were blood sacrificed.

'I want to eat... I want to eat souls.'

'No, that's not right.'

'I want flesh and blood, I want blood!'

'Get out!'

'I want to eat, eat them, eat those weak humans. After being exiled for so long, it's time for revenge.'

'Get out of my body!'

On the mural, twisted heads appeared in Wu Yi's body.

And the text suddenly became arrogant and haughty, recording the state of mind at that time: 'I am Wu Yi, granted the Great Shang by Heaven. When I was born, I was able to shoot at the heavens and kill gods. How can I allow my descendants to offer blood sacrifices to me instead?! It's simply ridiculous!'

But in the text that followed, Wu Yi constantly struggled between self and beastliness.

He was injured, so he had to use the spiritual energy of the souls from blood sacrifices to replenish his own spirituality. As a result, the part occupied by humans became less and less, and the part occupied by beasts continued to increase. Finally, Wei Yuan saw that on the last mural, the last text was written, and Wu Yi no longer called himself I, the King.

'I, I want blood sacrifices...'

'That flower-holding person, I want to eat, but... but it can't be that simple.'

'The King wants to eat, there must be a large cauldron. I, I want to draw a cauldron first, one painting a day...'

Then there was the text for the second day.

'A cauldron without a bell is not right, not right...'

'Today I will finish drawing the bell, and then go out and eat her.'

'To eat, there must be enough lush vegetation. Today, today add a flower, outside Zhaoge City, there are often such flowers, blooming for ten miles without fading. When I was young, I often went to see them, looking for a whole day, with...'

The name behind was crossed out.

'With flowers and trees, without guards, it cannot show the King's power... Heh, Fei Li, he has been following me since he was little, but died when we were conquering and returning home. I'll draw him first. I remember he can blow a very good tune with a leaf. When I finish drawing him, I will go out and eat that person.'

'And Liu, the wine he brews is the best.'

'I, the Shang people, love wine, but who in the entire Zhaoge City can compare to him... When I finish drawing him, I will go out and eat that person.'

'Father King...'

'Heh, Tai Ding, I remember he was still young, how can he not be there?'

'When I finish drawing...'

Dense text, some even constantly overlapping and covering each other, Wei Yuan was silent. He looked ahead at this large area, existing in the hollow of the ancestral vein of Zhaoge, slowly raised his hand, and spiritual energy overflowed, turning into a ball of light like the sun rising to a high place.

So under this light, Wei Yuan was silent and lost in thought.

He saw a city of boundless prosperity and grandeur.

There were children laughing and playing, there were towering, god-like temples, there were guards greeting each other with smiles, there were musicians playing tunes, there were children sitting in the palace, outside the city there were drooping willows, there were soaring hawks, in the sky were stars, and outside the city, there were really ten miles of flowers blooming forever.

In this dark and lonely mountain belly, a hideous, defiled, and twisted monster leaned against the rock wall.

Those people surrounded him, smiling and shouting, there was wind from his hometown, there was wine from his hometown, there were friends from his memories, there were relatives who could never be seen again. Entering the human world, he wanted to be a man-eating demon, but when he closed his eyes, heh, his hometown was by his side.

The Bo dragon said in a low voice, "...Three thousand years."

Wei Yuan did not answer.

Yes, three thousand years.

Before him was darkness and endless loneliness, a vigil that even he himself did not know if there would be an end to, a despair that he was on the verge of every day, only able to numb himself and force himself to walk on day by day. Under such despair, he raised his head, but saw the most magnificent miracle.

Xu Fu had already wanted to take advantage of the spiritual veins of the Central Plains again as early as the Three Kingdoms period, so there was contact between Yamatai and the Wei Kingdom.

Three hundred years was enough to twist a sorcerer who had exhausted his efforts to avenge his hometown.

Three thousand years could not wash away the persistence of a soul.

He was indeed tainted by beastliness.

But between him degenerating into a man-eating demon and an arrogant emperor, there was an entire beautiful city of Zhaoge.

This city would not fall.

ps: Today's first update... 4,400 words, a bit difficult to write. I'll write the second update immediately, but I estimate that the number of words will be relatively small. Thank you QingisnotQing for the grand reward, thank you~

Sima Zhen's "Historical Records Search for Obscurities": Wu Yi was unprincipled, and the disaster was caused by shooting at the sky.

"Historical Records Volume 3 Yin Benji Third": Wu Yi hunted between the He and Wei Rivers, and there was a violent thunder, and Wu Yi was shocked to death.